Pokémon: Hardships, Friendships, and Relationships
by ClassicalLover
Summary: A female Gengar and Gastly, escape an evil health center bent on doing rotten experiments on Ghost Pokémon. They find refuge in Morty's burned tower in Ecruteak City befriending the ghost pokémon there, which she doesn't mind, except for a certain male Gengar that loves to show-off. Can she and the others defeat the health center or will human greed prevail? Pokémon Gijinkas!
1. Episode 1: Escape

Pokémon: Hardships, Friendships, and Relationships

Episode 1

Escape

Gengar's POV

"Run faster Gastly!"

"I'm running as fast as I can!"

"Push yourself!"

I heard her make an irritated sound. Our footsteps became synchronized with the beat of them pounding against the pavement. Unfortunately, we could not shake off the tread of feet behind us. Our perpetrators were still hot on our trail and they weren't slowing. We had to do something or we would get captured.

"Gastly, levitate!" I instructed my sister. She nodded and popped up in front of me.

I concentrated on lifting myself. Levitation was different from flying. You had to think about getting in the air. It didn't just come, like the Pokémon that had wings. To me, though, levitation was more beneficial. Wings could get hurt or broken. With levitation, you could always get away without worrying about wings. It just took a lot of focus.

As soon as I was next to Gastly, I grabbed her hand and started floating off far away from that hideous place they call a "Pokémon Health Center." Ha! More like a torture center.

"Gengar watch out!"

As soon as Gastly shouted that, it was too late. The attack by Duskull that was under the ownership of one of the creepy "caretakers" (Doc) had done its deed.

The shadow ball was a powerful one and caused me to fall. I hit the ground hard, rolling some of the way. My body felt _powerless._ The bruises and cuts I got from the vicious fall sizzled with seething fire. Blood was dripping from the open wounds and my wrist on my left hand felt broken. It was a struggle just to get up.

Gastly hurried to my side. "Sister, get up, hurry! They're gaining on us," she pleaded. I shook my head and used sheer willpower to get up. I was able to get to my knees but it wasn't easy. The gashes on them burned like mad when they touched the cold hard dirt. Who knows what specimens were getting in them, infecting my wounds, but I couldn't care about that now.

"Duskull, hit them with another shadow ball" shouted Doc. I knew him. He was one of the main people performing the horrible tests on the ghost Pokémon there. He was also the one that captured them.

Duskull towered over us and powered up the dark energy in his hands. He looked at me with his gleaming eyes and gave a cold smile.

"Heh, say your goodbyes," he said in a rasp voice.

I grabbed Gastly in my arms using my body as a shield. I didn't have enough strength to fight back physically, but I could fight back with words.

"Duskull! Think about what you are doing. What good will it do if you blast me?" I said keeping my voice steady. I looked at him with the fierceness of a Gengar's leer. "You hurt us and what you will get? Whatever Doc told you was just frosted words. You'll get nothing!" I shouted.

Duskull's eyes became slits and his cold smile turned into a teeth-gnashing frown. Everything about his demeanor was seething.

"You don't know anything!" He raised his arms and the shadow ball sparked with dark energy. I knew it would be over if it hit me. I held Gastly closely to me and braced for impact.

"You should have just stayed and behaved, Gengar. It wouldn't have come to this," Duskull said sneeringly. I wanted to rip him apart.

With brutal force, the cackling shadow ball flew toward us like a dynamite. This was it. I held Gastly even tighter and closed my eyes.

A sky-splitting scream hit my ears full force. Shocked, I looked up and saw Duskull on the ground, convulsing, hit by his own shadow ball. Dark energy was circling his body.

"What?" How did the attack go back on him?

"It worked," Gastly stammered. I looked at her and saw her eyes half-closed; her body limp in my arms.

"What did you do Gastly?"

"I blocked it sister." She fainted right after that.

She must have used her powers to counter the attack. But our defense was almost deleted to nothing from the last hit. Any attacks or defense moves would certainly hurt you more than your opponent.

I used this as a chance to get away. Getting up on my feet, I lifted Gastly bridal style. I turned to look back at Duskull. He was still on the ground, Doc yelling at him for his failure. I had mixed feelings for Duskull. He didn't deserve the treatment he got but what can you do when he won't leave his master's side. It's like a battered wife always going back to her abusive husband no matter how many times you help her. I sighed and without further ado, slipped away into the shadows and traveled through them. We were gonna need a safe place to hide and rest tonight.

It takes a lot of energy hiding in the shadows, especially for pre-evolved forms. They may become invisible in shadows but it was only Gengar that could become the exact shape of a shadow and overtake it. It was thrilling to say the least of hiding in someone's shadow. Scaring them out of their wits was exhilarating. Then the energy they expel from the rushed adrenaline was the best food in the world! But now, I was holding an unconscious Gastly while having my special defense lowered. I was not hiding in someone's shadow nor collecting food from it. Shadow traveling of the obscure city buildings took more than I had, so I guessed at when we would be at downtown of Ecruteak City. The people here don't think that much of the ghost Pokémon because of how many that live here. It was known as a "ghost town" because of it.

When I made myself visible, I realized I went a little past downtown. We were on the outskirts of the city. I looked out at the forest of houses. Maybe I could find a place that was abandoned.

I shifted Gastly in my arms and grunted.

The neighborhood all looked the same as was the norm of suburban life. The streets weren't that crowded because of the time of night. Only random cars here and there sped past. It was a perfect night for a ghost type.

I was beginning to get frustrated when I couldn't find an abandoned building. Don't people ever leave their homes! I made a mental note to go haunting some of the houses. It would surely clear some needed space for a ghost Pokémon.

My musings were getting more and more rant like when I found... _it._ In front of me were two towers but the first one looked more appealing to me. The second tower had severe damage done to it, like it had gotten burnt. Random wood blocks that might have been support beams littered the surroundings of the tower. The paint, which might have been once elegant, a moldy greenish color. The "tower" resembled something like a scorched toothpick.

Perfect!

I grinned my signature grin and went inside blending in the shadows. Settling myself on the ground, I put Gastly down gently. My eyes were drooping and my body, completely out of juice. I examined myself thoroughly and saw the wounds and tattered clothing. My claws were like dull pencils. I checked my left wrist and it hurt just to try to move it side to side indicating that it was broken. My legs and knees had cuts. The dirt I had on me was definitely not going to make those open wounds fair well.

"Hey! Look someone's here," a voice said. My ears twitched. It had that familiar ghostly echo. I turned around and found myself surrounded by multiple Gastly and Haunter.

"You're a Gengar... but you don't look so well," one of the Haunter said. I gave a scowl at the Gastly and Haunter and put on a Gengars' trademark grin. I couldn't look weak among a bunch of little pre-evolved forms.

"I am fine Gastly, Haunter. Though my sister is not. May you find some oran berries and give them to her..." They all gave a sound of agreement and raced to go find some of the health giving berries.

I exhaled slowly and laid next to Gastly, easily falling into a dreamy state.

On the other side of the lingering shadows were two bright red eyes.

_Meanwhile..._

"You poor excuse of a Duskull. You failed again!" yelled Doc. He was holding the Pokémon in a dead lock, pinning Duskull against a brick building. He squeezed on Duskull's neck to prove his point.

Duskull let out a silent scream of pain, not attempting to struggle free. He had learned the hard way a long time ago when he did that.

"I am sorry, Master. I won't fail you again," he managed to stammer out.

"Heh, pathetic! You have always failed. I should put you with the other ghosts. You would make a great rendition to our cause," the trainer said in a chilling voice. Doc got close to Duskull's face and breathed on the brim of his neck. "Maybe I should do that. You could be the answer to our problems hmm?"

Duskull felt his stomach pit in distress. This could not happen out in public. He couldn't be seen as a damsel in distress.

He started begging, "No! I won't fail again... I promise. Give me another chance. I have a plan. Please!"

Doc leaned away from Duskull to look at him in the eyes. It would be beneficial to keep Duskull. He was a ghost Pokémon after all and understands what they do. Maybe he could bring justice to that rotten Gengar and her weakling sister.

Doc let go. "Fine! Though this plan better be good or..."

Duskull nodded, heeding the threat. He knew what would happen.

He looked up at the moon and his lips curled into a sinister smile.

That fate wasn't going to happen to him.

**Author's Note: **I am actually really proud of this. I wanted to do a story of Gengar and Gastly as female since they're usually depicted as males in stories. I was also thinking how life would fair for Morty and his ghost Pokémon after the episodes of Ash. Can you guess which Pokémon was looking at our female Gengar at the end?

This is my first story in the Pokémon fandom. I hope from the summary you got that they were Pokémon gijinkas meaning Pokémon with human features. They still have some features of which Pokémon they are. If you are new to this you can look it up on google, deviantart, anywhere really and see what I'm talking about.

Constructive criticism is always welcomed!

Edit: I looked back on this chapter and realized it needed some revision. Apparently, I use a lot of passive voice when it is unnecessary. Also, there were a lot of unneeded words, phrases, or redundancy. I changed some meaning of sentences and hopefully used better word choice.

Edit #2: I completed the third draft of this. So this should be my last thought on the outlook of the chapter. I let go of some more stuff that I realized didn't fit in well with the paragraph. Some wording of sentences were changed to fit my perception of what I saw (in my mind).


	2. Episode 2: Turn That Frown Upside Down

Pokémon: Hardships, Friendships, and Relationships

Episode 2

Turn That Frown Upside Down

Gengar's POV

My mind slipped into consciousness without me opening my eyes. I didn't want to be up. I was still exhausted from yesterday. I stirred and turned around on the floor trying to get myself back to sleep.

I nestled myself trying to get comfortable again. In my subconscious state, it took awhile to notice that the floor actually felt semi-soft. It felt like I was on a mattress or something. Was the floor like that when I got here? I didn't exactly remember or cared at the time, I guess.

I opened one red eye to check it out and immediately jumped. I looked down and realized I was on a bed with a comforter covering me. What the...? Getting a glimpse of myself from gazing down at the bed, I saw I wasn't wearing the clothes I had on before. What replaced them was a bland looking gown.

Okay, where am I? I scrutinized my surroundings and saw a hospital resemblance. The room had white walls with a neutral color tile floor. The walls had posters about personal hygiene of Pokémon, anatomy of select Pokémon, and little notes left for a Nurse Joy, Chansey and Blissey. There was an empty tray to the right of the bed and, on the left, were two IV's. My eyes followed the tubing until I saw the needle puncturing my skin. A slow drip going into my bloodstream.

It took awhile to process but I knew where I was. They caught us. They caught us and put us back into rooms that resemble Pokécenters. They probably have me hooked up to something that would turn me into a freak.

I sat dead still letting the information sink in. I didn't know what to think.

My first instinct was to get away. As a Pokémon, my natural incentive was to do anything to protect myself and get away whether it was from getting caught or from a feud in the wild. My second, more domesticated response was to just wait and see what's going on. Domesticated Pokémon were trained to obey even if it might hurt them. Was I even considered a "catch?" If I was, the only trainer I could have possibly had was Doc. Though, by no means did I want him to be my trainer. I didn't even want to be near the dude.

Following my first instinct I ripped off the IV needles, which left little blood marks, and scrambled off the bed. I landed on the ground with a thud, comforter strewn all over the floor. Grabbing my head, I tried to get myself focused. My eyes saw nothing but a blurred mess. Whatever those IV's had in it made me lose my senses. It was like I was intoxicated.

I messily got to my feet. Standing made it even worse as the room started to spin around in circles. I felt like throwing up. Making my way towards the only exit in the room, I pounded the door to find the knob. My pounding probably caused a lot of ruckus but I didn't care. Once I found the knob, I opened the door with such force that I got hit with it. Stumbling backwards a bit, I regained my balance and went into the hallway.

It felt like I was doing a drunken dance just trying to run. I used the walls of the huge hallway for support. The "running" was making me weaker and more drowsy. I felt faint, nauseous and just plain _sick._ My breathing went shallow and I bent over hacking up coughs. Some blood was coughed up.

I had this feeling before when it was time to eat and not getting food fast. Being a ghost, I needed a life force so I could sustain my own "life". If not, we would fade away into the spirits we really are. The Gastly line may not have such a close entity with the after life since we're dual ghost/poison type but the essence of being a ghost was there. Strongly.

I felt a hand touch me and I looked up from my bent over state. It was a human I could tell. The facial features of the human was scrunched in concern. The hand that I so wanted to rip away from me patted my back.

"Are you okay...?" the human asked in a voice full of pity.

I scoffed at the irony of it. This human pretending to be pitying of me while he was here probably working for them. I shoved the human away forcefully.

"I don't need your stupid little acting skills, human. Out of my way!" I ran with new fervor wanting to get away, pushing any human in my way harshly. Humans were terrible. They ran a place like this for there own benefit and greed. They wanted to control everything so much, especially ghost-types. We were the "abominations" of all Pokémon. Accused of scaring, hurting, or even killing people. It was the humans fault. They don't understand us until they die and become a Yamask and Confragigus. Then they see how much ghosts have to go through.

I clamped onto the door handle that jiggled dangerously as I swung the door open. A full pressure of blinding light hit my fazed eyes, making me scowl and stumble more. I heard the buzzing of voices. I saw people immediately crowd around me, pulling me, putting up a struggle as I tried to tangle myself free. I roughly fell onto a soft cushion.

Fighting back I started kicking, screaming, and punching to make capturing me harder. I couldn't let them get me!

The struggle went on for awhile it seemed. Until everything suddenly stopped. Nothing happened. I was to shocked to know what was going on. Then, all at once, I felt a stab of pain inflict both my cheeks. Whatever it was that caused the pain had force behind it because it made me head turn to the left and right. I started feeling dizzy. Everything was literally spinning in circles until it went black.

…_**...**_

I felt myself slip into reality; blinking my eyes open. The lights in the room kept my eyes blinking rapidly. I groaned and shifted in the bed realizing that I had a belt thing around my torso keeping me in place. I widened my eyes and panicked. I started wriggling violently to get free.

"Shh, Shh... It's okay! Calm down please," said a preppy voice. I felt two hands gently keep me in place.

I looked up to see who was touching me. It was a young girl, probably be somewhere in her teens. Her hair was hot pink with three big strands on each side of her head. The tips of the six strands were a darker shade of pink. Her eyes had small pupils and she had on a smile. That smile looked like it could bright up anything in the world. Her body was certainly curvy, her hips and thighs being the biggest part. She was wearing a light pink nurse dress that came to the middle of her legs. A huge pocket was in the middle for an egg to rest. High white stockings went up over her knees, with pink flats on her feet. She was a Pokémon. A Chansey by the looks of it.

"Wha... What are you doing here?" If we were back in that godforsaken place then why would they have a Chansey here.

"Oh! You're in the Ecruteak City Pokécenter. A place for Pokémon and trainers come to to rest, eat, sleep, and get back to full health. I'm sorry I had to use double slap on you earlier. You were really disoriented and scaring some of the people and Pokémon so I had to use it. You were really panicking back there! Have you ever been in a Pokécenter before... Gengar?" She asked hesitantly. Clear concern was on her face.

The Happiny evolution line were so kind it made you want to just tell them all your problems. The way they cared for others with genuine concern was beyond what I could comprehend.

"No...not really..." I knew about Pokécenters but just never have been in one before. Not counting the fake one I came from.

Chansey shook her head understandingly. "Well... Nurse Joy wanted me in here to look after you and give you your breakfast, even though its almost noon. I should also explain how you got here since you were unconscious...," she said while taking off the belt around my torso. Once it was unbuckled, I stretched fully wriggling my toes. It felt really, really good.

Chansey had a little mobile table next to her with some food on top. There was hot tea and on the plate was (from the smell of them) ghost-type pellets. An single apple was next to the platter of pellets. It smelled good, but it definitely was nowhere near the normal food I ate. Though, as a Pokémon we could survive on berries and pellets... for awhile.

Chansey started to put the food in order explaining what happened.

"Well, you came in pretty late. Right when Nurse Joy was about to close the Pokécenter, Morty came with his Gengar carrying you and a Gastly. Morty said that his Pokémon had found you in the burned tower. You guys looked pretty bad. You had a lot of wounds all over you and your energy level was very low, like if you came from a fight."

I didn't tell her that we had. She gave me the prepared food and I sat up to eat it. I wanted to ask a million questions about my sister, Gastly, feeling regret for forgetting her in my momentary alarm. But I felt that I needed to know how we got here first. A guy named Morty and another Gengar. Sounded like a trainer and domesticated Pokémon relationship.

"Who's Morty?" I asked. Why would a _human_ of all people help us?

" Oh, Morty's the Ecruteak Gym leader. His specialty is ghost-types, like you. Actually at first we thought that you both were his Pokémon... but his demeanor towards you and Gastly seemed different than with his own Pokémon," Chansey explained. She had pulled up a chair to sit next to my bed, crossed legged.

I sighed and looked at my food. It did look appetizing. I started eating very slowly, just sitting there contemplating. I didn't even know if I was thinking... everything felt numb. I don't know what a gym or a gym leader is. Must have been something I couldn't find out during my stay in... that place. Do I even want to know what that is? Maybe it was the same thing from what I was running from.

"Where's the Gastly that came in with me. She is my sister, you know," I spoke after swallowing some of the pellets. The taste of them was like an artificial way of getting the "energy" from a life force. They weren't by no means tasteless, just the artificial energy was bland.

Chansey's eyes popped wide in awe. "I did not know you were related to the Gastly. How cool! I wish I had siblings... Anyway, she is in the infirmary. A Blissey is taking care of her so I don't know that much details but... last time I heard, she was weak from lack of energy. More so than you."

You don't know how right you are Chansey. Remembering from yesterday, Gastly fainted from just blocking a powerful shadow ball.

"May I see her?"

"Hmm... maybe at noon. They should have put her in the resting area by then. I can ask and come back to tell you," Chansey said. Her lips spread into a warm smile.

I wanted to smile back too but my smile, or grin I should say, is nowhere near warm.

…**...**

I was allowed to see my sister in the evening. With a little help from Chansey, I found myself sitting across from Gastly on the left side of her bed. She was awake by then and very talkative. I knew Gastly well enough to know that she was nervous. It made me remember when I was a Gastly. I had talked a lot too from nervousness. Heh.

Blissey had to know something was up between us. She was always asking if we needed anything, wanted anything, and if we were comfortable. She was being a little too over the top.

"I just wanted to bring some cookies! We get to share just a little bit of sweets sometimes in the evenings," she cooed handing us the delicacies.

"Ah, thank you Blissey!" Gastly chimed and immediately bit in to her's. I thanked Blissey as well and chowed down on mine.

"No problem! Just doing my job," she replied.

…**...**

Gastly was asleep when nightfall came. She hadn't fully recovered from that shadow ball's affects yet. I, for one, was feeling much better. The IV treatments really did there stuff.

Naturally being a ghost Pokémon, I was wide awake. One of the ways the Gastly line knew when of its members were hurt is if we slept at night. Which could be said for any ghosts.

The door creaked open gently. Blissey came in quietly with blankets and pillows.

"I figured you might want to stay with Gastly so I thought to bring some blankets," she whispered. I murmured a 'thank you' and grabbed them. The chair I was sitting on in this room didn't fold down to become a bed, but that was alright. It was comfortable enough.

Blissey being the helpful thing she was asked if I needed anything else.

"No, I'll be fine tonight," I whispered back. She nodded her head and looked at the floor worriedly. Her stance was like a kid who was afraid of asking a question to there parents. I tilted my head and asked, "what's wrong."

She looked up and smiled nervously.

"Well...um, I noticed about how your grin was gone all day, Gengar. Gengars usually have almost permanent grins...," She stammered out, "I was wondering if something was bothering you."

Something was but Blissey didn't need to know that.

"No I'm just tired, Blissey," I said.

She stared at me for awhile. I don't know if she believed what I said or not.

"Okay then, I'll be going to bed. Sleep well!"

"Yeah, you too."

The door closed without another word.

I sighed and slumped down on the chair. I guess I really didn't grin like a Gengar should. Even when I did, like yesterday, maybe it looked strained or something.

….Maybe it had become a sad fact that I was the only Gengar in the world that _frowned_ in place of my smile.

**Author's Note: **Yes! Another chapter complete. So some things that I forgot to mention in first chapter and what I couldn't fit in the summary. There will be side pairings one of which is yaoi (or shounen-ai) since I'm not going into you know a lot of details... So there will be honorshipping (Morty x Falkner) and maybe some more... I am not sure. So that is a warning! Don't like it, don't read it. Though, it shouldn't be that much in detail like I said. There are side characters in this story.

Which brings me to the next chapter. I had a wonderful idea on the next chapter and how to bring Morty and his powerful Gengar into the scene. They should make an appearance next episode. So should Duskull as well.

I know the category may be hard to follow with the hurt/comfort part of the second category. I was going to go for romance/violence since there is fight scenes, like the first chapter already had some of that. But the main theme of the story wasn't the violence but the hurt and comfort of real life situations. Hopefully I'm making this more realistic with the detail of blood and stuff.

Hopefully I got Blissey's senses right. They can tell sadness from the fur or hair they have and they will go to lengths to cure the sadness. I figured that is what she should do here. I love the Happiny line. There so cute! Who says that they can't fight for their own.

Anyway, this is getting long. Thank you for reading and constructive criticism is always welcomed in the reviews! :)

_Review Replies (for non-signed in folk)_

_To Guest (posted on 7/19/12: _Thank you for thinking my story is so epic! That made me want to do a back flip. Here is your next chapter!

I don't want the story to be to cliché so I don't know how Morty's Gengar will turn out. I looked back at the episodes of him in there to try to get the gist of his personality. He had some funny and cool moments. He might be slightly intimidating, enjoying scaring people, etc. I see him as Morty's handful bundle of joy. We'll see how his character develops. Thank you for reviewing!


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